


new scars (old wounds)

by imposterhuman



Series: ironstrange vs. the rogues [6]
Category: Doctor Strange - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, Extremis Tony Stark, IronStrange, M/M, Not Steve Friendly, Post CACW, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Stephen Strange, Salt, Sassy Stephen Strange, Siberia, Team Iron Man, all the salt, angry stephen strange, not team Cap friendly, people find out the truth about siberia, unapologetically team tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 18:21:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17208545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: someone leaks the footage from siberia, and people are Not Happy with team capft. salty stephen strangeteam iron man: dont like it? dont read it





	new scars (old wounds)

**Author's Note:**

> by popular request, here it is! a longer version of my most recent chapter of outtakes!
> 
> it isnt exactly the same, i changed it a bit but the premise is the same
> 
> enjoy!
> 
> (sorry in advance if the formatting is weird; im doing this all on mobile because i forgot to pack my computer oops)

“Boss,” FRIDAY’s nervous voice came over the speaker in Tony’s lab. “You’re gonna want to see this.”

 

“See what, Fri?” Tony asked, setting down the gauntlet prototype he was working on.

 

“Someone leaked the videos from Siberia,” she said, throwing up a screen. The angle was from a wall mounted camera, not his suit cam (not that he had been worried- his security was practically unbeatable).

 

“Who?” he croaked, watching some of the worst moments of his life play out on screen. “And why? Prioritize this, baby girl. I have to go run damage control.”

 

“Okay, Boss,” FRIDAY wasn’t happy, but she knew that avoidance was how Boss coped. It didn’t mean she couldn’t _try_ to help, though. A line of code later and Stephen was portalling into the lab.

 

Wordlessly, he bundled his engineer into a tight hug and the Cloak flew around to rest on Tony’s shoulders. After a few minutes, he asked, “Movie?”

 

Tony shook his head. “Can’t,” he whispered. “Damage control. Have to get ahead of the news cycle.”

 

“Boss, if I may,” FRIDAY interjected. “Miss Potts has already told me to tell you to take today off and let her handle PR. She also says that she’ll come by in the evening to check on you. Colonel Rhodes will also be stopping by this evening when he finishes his meetings in Vienna. So you have time for a movie.”

 

Tony barked out a wet laugh. “You heard her,” he said to Stephen.

 

Stephen opened a portal to their bedroom with a wave of his hand. “After you,” he said.

 

\---

 

“Good morning,” Pepper said, stepping up to the podium. “I’m here to address the videos that have been circulating about Dr. Stark’s… confrontation-” the distaste was clear in her tone. “- with Mr. Rogers and Sergeant Barnes in Siberia. Unfortunately, all of the footage is authentic and has not been tampered with in any way. We had several top analysts confirm that fact before this conference. The injuries sustained by Dr. Stark during this fight were what led to his highly-publicized usage of the Extremis virus to recover. There were no other options, as he has previously stated, and I’m sure you all can see why.

 

“At this time, Dr. Stark requests privacy. I’m sure you all can understand that after some of his most traumatic experiences being made public, he would like time before facing the press. Any publication that requests an interview during this time will be denied. Please, respect his wishes until he is ready to talk. I will now open the floor up for questions.”

 

Pepper pointed at a sandy haired reporter in the third row. “Will Stark be pressing charges for both obstruction of justice and assault?” he asked.

 

“At this time, I can’t confirm or deny that with any certainty,” she admitted. She pointed to Christine Everhart next.

 

“Is Rogers a good fit for the New Avengers when he abandoned a teammate in Siberia without a backwards glance, in a damaged suit, no less?”

 

Pepper grimaced. “I am not an Avenger nor party to their decision making process,” she said. “It falls to the Accords Council to make that judgement.”

 

“Is Dr. Stark physically able to operate the Iron Man suit without causing further damage to his torso?”

 

“Yes,” she nodded. “Extremis fixed both the damage from this confrontation and previous arc reactor related surgeries. He is physically in excellent health and able to operate the armor to its full capabilities.”

 

A brunette in the second row stood up when pointed at. “Who released the videos?”

 

“We believe it to be a faction of HYDRA that hasn’t been taken down yet,” Pepper answered. “It was an abandoned _HYDRA_ base, after all.”

 

“Why didn’t Dr. Stark fight back for real?” a mousy blonde asked.

 

“I’m sorry,” Pepper was thrown, but she was enough of a professional to not let it show. “Could you clarify that, please?”

 

“The Iron Man suit has missiles and lasers in addition to the massively powerful unibeam. It has stood toe-to-toe with gods and the Hulk,” the reporter reasoned. “He could have easily killed Rogers and Barnes in Siberia. So, why didn’t he?”

 

Pepper blinked in shock. “Because that isn't who he is,” she said finally. “He was hurting and he lashed out. We all do it. Tony is only human, you know. He didn’t kill them because he is a good man who recognized that killing them wouldn’t give him his parents back. That’s all the questions I will be taking at this time. Thank you.” She walked purposefully off stage, ignoring the shouted questions.

 

Once out of sight, Pepper almost screamed in rage. It wasn’t _fair_ ! Tony suffered _so much_ , and for what? That asshole Rogers was probably going to get away with hurting her Tony because Tony was too nice, too focused on the bigger picture, to press charges. She’d try to convince him, though. It wasn’t right that Rogers would get away with damn near killing Tony. And he wouldn’t, if she had a say.

 

“FRIDAY?” Pepper said into her earpiece. “Call Murdock. Set up a meeting, if he’s amenable.”

 

FRIDAY chirped in confirmation, and Pepper grinned.

 

\---

 

“How is he?” Rhodey fretted, Pepper behind him. They both had gotten to the Compound at the same time to see Tony. The engineer was sleeping, watched over by Stephen.

 

“Not great,” Stephen admitted. “He’s sleeping, at least. Rogers and his merry band tried to come and talk to him, but I sent them away pretty fast. I want to go tear them a new one, but…” He looked at Tony fondly. “I didn’t want to leave him.”

 

Pepper toed off her heels and cuddled up next to Tony. “Go,” she urged, murder in her voice. “Because if you don’t, I will. And I have a feeling you’ll be nicer than me.”

 

Stephen stood, and Rhodey took his place on Tony’s other side. “Yeah,” Rhodey agreed. “You’ll be more productive, too. I have half a mind to put on the suit and kick their asses. Maybe blast Rogers out a window, I’m open to improvisation.”

 

“I’ll do my best not to banish them to the dark dimension,” Stephen sighed, walking towards the elevator.

 

“Kick their asses!” Rhodey called out behind him.

 

The elevator ride was silent, with FRIDAY choosing to remain quiet rather than chatter like normal. Stephen wasn’t blind; he knew how her creator’s distress was affecting her. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do to help her, except maybe fight the ones causing her Boss so much pain.

 

Stephen stepped out of the elevator and was greeted by most of the assembled Rogues (Maximoff had been banished to Kamar Taj for training and Lang was back with the Pyms). None of them looked happy, and Rogers was sporting a black eye.

 

“Are they real?” Romanoff cut right to the chase. “I know Potts said they were, but HYDRA is good at deception.”

 

“They’re real,” Stephen replied grimly. “They match up perfectly with the suit cam, which I’ve seen in full.”

 

“You… You watched it?” Rogers asked, subdued.

 

“It was giving my boyfriend nightmares to the point where closing his eyes meant a return to that goddamned bunker, so yeah, I watched it,” Stephen’s tone was venomous.

 

“I didn’t know!” Rogers defended. “I didn’t know the damage was that bad!”

 

“You just can't stop lying, can you?” Stephen sneered. “What was it that you told everyone? Oh, I remember. You said Tony went crazy and attacked you and Barnes without prompting. Remember saying that?”

 

Rogers looked down, ashamed, but didn’t answer.

 

“Yeah, he did,” Wilson said faintly. “Oh my god, I sent him there. I…” he broke off.

 

Stephen felt a faint stirring of sympathy for the man, but quashed it down. Wilson made his bed the minute he decided to jump when Rogers said to without all the facts.

 

“Why did you fight him?” Barton asked. “Everyone knows that the right way to deal with someone that emotionally compromised isn't to _hit them back_ , you asshole.”

 

“He was trying to kill Bucky!” Rogers cried. “I had to stop him!”

 

Romanoff shook her head. “He had 24 openings to kill Barnes, with the weaponry I’m aware of,” she said gravely. “But Barnes is alive.”

 

“He wasn’t trying to kill anyone,” Stephen scoffed, ignoring Rogers’s weak protests. “He lashed out because he was hurting, because his teammate lied and used him for _years_ . He had to watch as a supposedly innocent man killed his parents and then find out that his supposed friend knew. Tell me, Rogers, if someone killed your mother, wouldn’t you be angry? Wouldn’t you want them to _hurt_?”

 

“Bucky _is_ innocent,” Rogers swore.

 

“Steve, shut up,” Romanoff warned. “Before I punch you again.”

 

Stephen spread his hands in a Tony Stark signature move and smiled ruthlessly. “Aren’t you glad you all gave up _so much_ for a liar?” he asked rhetorically. “He lied to you about this; what else is he keeping hidden? And what else would he give up for Barnes? This time it was Tony who was under the bus, who is it going to be next?” So sue him, he was Pissed Off. A dark part of him wanted Rogers to feel what Tony felt when his team turned against him. He was just angry enough to let that dark part rear its ugly head for a moment.

 

“I…” Rogers couldn't even muster up a defense as Stephen walked away. “Tell him I’m sorry.”

 

“Too little, too late,” Stephen shot back, disappearing into the elevator, the doors closing just as the Rogues began to fight.

 

\---

 

Tony had been hoping that confrontation would wait until he had at least finished his fourth coffee. Unfortunately, the world was a cruel, cruel place and some magical bastard out there in the universe had it out for him.

 

“Tony,” Rogers greeted, ambushing him in the kitchen with the rest of the Rogues.

 

Tony drained his coffee in one sip. “What?” he asked finally.

 

“I wanted to apologize,” Rogers looked distinctly uncomfortable. “I did wrong by you, I know. I should have told you about your parents. But-” he cut off because Romanoff delivered a sharp kick to his ankle.

 

“No _but_ s in an apology,” she hissed.

 

“I didn’t know you knew how to apologize, _Natashalie_ ,” Tony snarked, moving to leave.

 

Rogers blocked the exit. “Tony, listen to me,” he pleaded. “I just want us to be a team again.”

 

“Not going to fucking happen,” Tony shot back. “Now move or I’ll make you.”

 

Rogers shook his head, adopting the condescending face of disappointment that he used so often on Tony. “Don’t be difficult,” he chided. “I’m reaching out to try and fix this.”

 

“I’m not five,” Tony scoffed. “Don’t talk down to me. I’m telling you this isn’t fixable. You broke my trust too badly for me to want to risk it again. That's not even everything, though! It took you caving in my ribcage to realize how goddamn unhealthy this team was. Maybe it was your family, but I was never anything but your whipping boy. So enjoy your team, Rogers, because I want none of it. Now, move.”

 

Rogers frowned but showed no signs of moving. “Not until we talk this out,” he said.

 

“Have it your way,” Tony shrugged. He closed his eyes and reached out through Extremis to the security systems. A line of code and the lights cut. Another line had all of the kitchen’s weaponry pointed the the Rogues. A third had the hidden exit to the kitchen opening just enough to let Tony through. “Good talk,” Tony announced through the PA system, once he had disappeared from the kitchen. “Maybe Rogers nearly killing me had some benefits, after all.”

 

(It didn’t; he hated Extremis, hated how he wasn't fully _human_ anymore, but they didn’t need to know that.)

 

Tony locked himself in the lab with a sigh. He was out of coffee.

 

Maybe the universe wasn’t all bad, because Stephen portalled in with his favorite coffee from a small shop in Italy (perks of a sorcerer boyfriend: portals!).

 

“Fri said you’d need some,” he said, delicately floating the coffee over to the engineer, who drank it gratefully.

 

“Oh my god,” Tony groaned. “I love you so much.”

 

Stephen chuckled. “Love you too, even though your caffeine addiction is worrying.”

 

“I take it back,” Tony glared. “I hate you, you're cruel and owe me more coffee.”

 

Stephen opened a portal to somewhere Tony didn’t recognize. “After you,” he said, the familiar thrill of adventure in his blue eyes. Tony considered it for a second. He had no plans, really. All his paperwork was caught up on, and he had no prototypes due. And no one currently at the Compound deserved his time.

 

Tony took Stephen’s hand and stepped through the portal. 

**Author's Note:**

> what did you think?
> 
> next im thinking something to do with the rogues pr, y/n?
> 
> comments, kudos, and prompts make my day


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